The build up for South by South West is well under way with torrents showing up with all the sample material provided by the show casing artists.  I’d recommend keeping an eye on the SWSW site as podcasts of some of the conferences presentations can be released as some of them can be very interesting rather than just record company rhetoric.

One day I’ll get a chance to go.

Whether or not you like Chumbawamba, the cover art for their new album says it all …

Trent Reznor has released a new instrumental album following the same basic model as Radiohead did with In Rainbows.  A basic 9 track version of Ghosts I-IX is free (with high quality audio i.e. 320bps MP3 or FLAC), $5 for a 36 track edition, with a CD edition at $10 and a serious Ulta Deluxe Limited Edition costing $300.  All versions come with as a minimum a 40 page PDF booklet.

The album came about as a result of an experiment with Adrian Belew, Alessandro Cortini and Brian Viglione with some basic rules:10 weeks, no clear agenda, no over thinking and every driven by impulse, and what ever happens the results will be released in some form.

Checkout http://ghosts.nin.com  for more information and ordering the album.

A little while ago I blogged about the forthcoming album by Kathryn Williams (see the entry here). Well the album is now out and available as they say in all good record shops and iTunes.  The important point I’d like to make though are great reviews that the album is getting, links to a few of these reviews can be found  here.  My favourite quote so far is “Drowned In Sound say the album “shits all over plant and krauss”… t-shirt anyne?”

An interesting approach to recording live sessions has been taking place in London – the Black Cab Sessions – simple idea use the back of a famous London cab to record a session which is then captured on camera and in audio.  The sessions have been largely adopted with artists with a more indie spirit such as Stephen Fretwell, The Kooks and so on. A lot of these artists are the sort I would expect to see show up on Later with Jools Holland.

The company behind the idea (Just So) have been gaining a lot of attention from the UK media (BBC and Channel 4 airing recordings). Checkout their site for more Black Cab Sessions.

I’ve just read about an interesting pricing strategy on Digital Music News for an online store (article here). Amie Street sell their downloads with a price based upon the demand ranging from free to 98-cents.  This is great for new artists, have a better chance at attracting sales than say on iTunes.

We just have to wait and see if it can develop by getting deals made with some of the major labels (currently only deals with significant indie labels) and come to the UK.

The PR for Duffy must be in overdrive. There is no doubting that she has a good voice, but before her debut album is out she’s clocked up performances on Later with Jools Holland, a BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge and a iTunes Live In London Session.

I hope that the album (due out next week) lives up to all of this.

Another year, and another Brits award, and yet another farce. A few years back the Brits showed signs of becoming credible by acknowledging new artists and new music. But this years’ Brits giving awards to Arctic Monkeys (3rd year running), Take That (just for doing a comeback tour) seems a little retrenchment to say the least. This sort of thinking contributes to the death of the UK music scene. Reading the Guardian blog shows that I’m not the only one holding this view. The only success is that the Osbournes did a relatively reasonable job of hosting the show.

You can see the results from the awards at http://www.brits.co.uk/

del.icio.us tags: Brits, music, Osbournes, awards

Bah, I’ve found someone with a bigger music collection than mine. At 3 million records and 300,000 CDs Paul Mawhinney has a slightly larger collection than I have, but he is selling it on eBay. I might have to just get in there a make a bid (I wish).

If you’d like to know more about Paul Mawhinney and this amazing collection then checkout an article here and Record Rama here.

del.icio.us tags: music, collection, CD, records, sale, eBay

An online MP3 war seems to be developing here in the UK.  With word that Amazon will arrive in the UK this summer.  Play the online music/games retailer have just introduced PlayDigital with DRM free tracks from EMI and Indies (and probably others to come) at prices below that of iTunes (65p a track and £4.95 for an album). Today HMV have launched their service which offers unlimited Streaming at £5.99 per month as well as track purchases from as low as 49p, although chart prices appear to range between 79p and £1.